Need financial help to study in September? Apply by 30 June for the National Scholarship Program

NSP offers help to students from less well-off families. Photo: Wikipedia

The National Scholarship Programme is one of the many means by which higher education in the UK receives public support and funding. Here at Bucks New University, we participate in the Government's National Scholarship Programme (NSP), which is targeted towards students from less affluent families who need a bit of extra help. So, how in practice does the system work?

This year, Bucks will make available 140 individual scholarships of up to £8,000 for students starting year one of their course from September 2014. Recipients will be entitled to a financial support package of £2,000 in their first year of study and £3,000 in each of their subsequent years of study (to a maximum of three years in total). Needless to say, there are a limited number of scholarships available and there are no guarantees of success. Still, check the criteria and, if you qualify, get an application in asap. And hurry! The application process will close on 30 June. 

What is the NSP?
The NSP is a scholarship designed to provide a direct benefit to individual students from England and the European Union who come from low income backgrounds and is intended to support the progression of students from groups currently under-represented in higher education. It is part-funded by the Government and part-funded by participating universities.

Who is eligible?

Students are eligible to apply for a scholarship if their declared household residual income is £25,000 per annum, or less, if they have firmly accepted an offer of a place at Bucks and will be paying tuition fees in excess of £6,000 (pro-rata for part-time students).
Scholarships will be awarded based on the merit of each individual application and in addition to the national eligibility criteria outlined above and set down by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)

To find out more, including how to apply, see the official page here.

How Much Does Our Course Cost?

As the cost of higher education rises dramatically, the issue of costs and fees is more important than ever. The Animation and VFX course costs £8,000 per annum (at the time of writing) but this includes a free laptop loaded with all the right software, so that every student starts the course with the tools they need to start making their own short films and even take on freelance work.

For more information on fees, loans, financial assistance (it is available - there are around 100 scholarships you can apply for at Bucks), and all the rest - check out this page at the main Bucks website.

---Alex

Free Laptops!

We're giving away free laptops! Well...sort of. As part of the total annual Animation & VFX course fee of £8,000, we're hoping to build in a free laptop so that every student beginning our course gets their own personal workstation to do their animation, so they can work both at home and on campus.

Why are we doing this? Because we want you to be part of the digital revolution. Computers are no longer a luxury accessory, they are a relatively inexpensive and almost indispensible part of a career in media. Nowadays your laptop can be your home studio, the sole piece of kit required to make your own films and take on Hollywood at its own game.

We're training animators not just to get jobs but to create jobs, to be independent entrepreneurs who can build their own studios out of their bedrooms, take on freelance work and create a virtual career.

When you have your own workstation you can set it up the way you want it; you become your own IT department and your own problem-solver, not purely dependent on the university for access to the computer rooms.

We want to empower our students to become a new generation of independent digital artists, starting up their own companies and shaking up the industry.

----Alex